


Guilt Conquers (At Last)

by nauticalneptune



Category: King of the Hill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-19
Updated: 2012-02-19
Packaged: 2017-10-31 10:57:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/343292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nauticalneptune/pseuds/nauticalneptune
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My version of "Nancy's Boys" episode, from only reading the episode summary.<br/>(I have watched it now obviously; I wrote this years ago)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Guilt Sinks In  
Nancy and John Redcorn were laying in his bed in his trailer.  
“14 years…” Nancy said. “14 years we’ve gotten away with this. How crazy is that?”  
“Not very. Your husband is moronic, paranoid…”  
“Alright, shug. That’s enough.”  
“Sorry…Will this make it better?” he breathed down her neck and then kissed her tenderly.  
Nancy moaned softly with pleasure. She was past feeling guilt; it’d been 14 years. She just let him do as he pleased and she did as she pleased. She’d done things with John Redcorn that she’d never even dreamed of doing with Dale. Dale was certainly a strange man. She and Dale hadn’t made love in years. She wasn’t even sure if he loved her. But what did it matter, really? If it didn’t bother him, it didn’t bother her.  
But she wouldn’t know if it bothered him because she didn’t know much about him period. He was a chain smoking, beer drinking, paranoid, gun fanatic that killed roaches. Other than that, she didn’t really know much about his life. She didn’t nose in his and he didn’t nose in hers. That’s how it’d been for 14 years. She knew that deep down she loved Dale, but she was too busy with John Redcorn to notice.  
“Are you sure you’ll be alright when I leave for the weekend, Nancy?”  
“I’ll be fine, shug.”  
“Because you know you are welcome to come with me.”  
“I’ll be fine,” she assured him.  
“Alright…” he looked at the clock. “Are you going to have to go?”  
“It is getting late. I think my treatment is well over,” they chuckled. “I should be getting home.”  
“Okay, Nancy…I just want you to know that I love you very much and I will miss you greatly when I’m gone.”  
“Same here, John Redcorn…” they leaned in and kissed goodbye before she left.

When Nancy stepped back in the house, Dale was sitting watching TV. “Hey, Nancy. Where’ve you been?”  
“John Redcorn’s. I had a migraine headache.”  
“It must’ve been a big one. You were gone a long time.”  
“Sorry, shug…” then she paused. “Why? Did you miss me?”  
“Um…yeah,” he said awkwardly.  
Nancy sat down in a chair beside him. “What’s on TV?”  
“Well, there’s guys in their undergarments pushing each other around. I wonder…” he said sarcastically. “It’s wrestling, Nancy.”  
“Oh…Do you want to do something this weekend?”  
This startled Dale. “Um…why?” he asked slyly.  
Because John Redcorn will be gone. “I don’t know. Why not?”  
“Okay…What did you have in mind?”  
“I don’t know. What about you?”  
“Um…Bowling?” he suggested.  
“Sure,” she shrugged. Anything to keep her busy.  
“Okay, cool. We can go tomorrow night if you’d like.”  
“Alright…Well, you watch your wrestling. I’m going to read a book.”  
“I could change the channel.”  
Nancy’s face lit up slightly, but said, “Oh, you don’t have to…”  
“Oh, it’s not going so well anyway. What do you want to watch?”  
“What on?”  
“Well, let’s see…” he started flipping through the channels. “Seinfeld is on.”  
“That’s fine.”  
So there they were, actually sitting in front of the television together. It was awkward, I’ll say that much. When a funny part came on, they laughed and looked at each other, but quickly turned back to the TV.

The next afternoon, they’d been invited to a barbecue over at the Hills. By the time they made their way over there, Hank was already outside flipping burgers, Peggy was talking to Minh, and Bobby was chatting with Connie.  
“Nancy!” Peggy waved.  
“Nancy Gribble!” Minh exclaimed. “Hi!”  
“Hello,” she made her way over to her friends.  
“Hey there Dale,” Hank said as he flipped a burger. “Bill and Boomhauer are supposed to be bringing the beers. They should be here any minute…”  
“Okay…Hey Kahn Souphanousanphone,” he always got a kick out of saying their neighbors’ last name.  
“Hello Dale Gribble,” he said a little smugly. 

Just then, Bill and Boomhauer walked up, holding the beer. “The beer is here!” Bill exclaimed. “Hey that rhymed…” he chuckled to himself.  
“Good,” Dale said. “I was needing a drink about now…” he took a drag on his cigarette.

The three women were sitting off to the side talking.  
“So Nancy,” Minh said. “I hear John Redcorn gone away for weekend. How will you ever survive?” she said dramatically, joking.  
“I’ll be just fine,” Nancy smirked, not exactly appreciating Minh’s teasing.  
“Guess you’ll have to spend time with husband. Haha!”  
“Okay, shug…” Nancy was getting a little irritated.  
“Alright!” Peggy exclaimed, jumping up. “I need a beer! Do you want a beer, Nancy? Minh? Because I want a beer,” she said rather spastically.  
Nancy and Minh looked at each other and then said slowly, “Sure…”

Bobby, Joseph, and Connie were standing together. Bobby had overheard Mrs. Souphanousanphone talking to Mrs. Gribble and his mother.  
“What are they talking about?” he asked his friends.  
“Oh, Mrs. Souphanousanphone is always teasing my mother. Something about John Redcorn. I don’t understand what she means, but she’s just being rude to her,” said Joseph. “Just like those Laotians to do that…”  
“Joseph! That’s being racist!” Bobby exclaimed and Connie had the most bewildered look on her face.  
“Oh, sorry…” Joseph said. “It’s just something I’ve heard my dad say before…”  
“You shouldn’t repeat everything you hear,” Connie said a little angrily. “Especially coming from your dad.”  
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Joseph asked.  
“Oh, never mind!” she said hotly, venturing away from the two boys to go sit with her mother.  
“Connie?” her mother said. “Why aren’t you over with your friends? Are they being mean to you?”  
“No, Mom. I just wanted to be over here with the girls.”  
“Okay, well if I tell you to plug your ears, you plug those ears.”  
“Uh…okay…”

The men were gathered around Hank, sipping their beers and talking.  
“Me and Nancy are going bowling tonight,” Dale said. “Do you guys want to come?”  
“Well, sure!” Bill was the first to accept, having no life.  
“Sure, man, whatever,” Boomhauer added.  
“Why in the hell all of a sudden you and Nancy are going bowling?” Hank asked, and then realized shortly that was a little uncalled for. “Uh…sorry,” he added.  
“She just came up out of nowhere and said ‘let’s do something.’ So I said bowling.”  
“Why this weekend out of all weekends?” Hank wondered aloud.  
“I don’t know, Hank. Why does it matter?”  
“No reason…” Hank trailed off, then it finally clicked in his head that John Redcorn was going to be away that weekend.  
“So are you coming or not?”  
“I guess so…I guess we’ll have to bring the kids though…Unless Kahn and Minh want to watch them.”  
“What you talking about, Hank Hill? I come bowling with you!” Kahn exclaimed.  
“Oh God…” Hank said aloud.  
“So I guess the kids are coming with us, then?” Dale said.  
“I guess so,” Hank sighed. 

Later when they were getting ready to go bowling, Dale said, “Oh, Nancy. I invited the Hills and the Souphanousanphones and the other guys too. Is that okay?”  
“Oh, that’s fine, shug.” She was actually relieved. She would be much more comfortable if Peggy and Minh were there. It would’ve been so awkward if it were just her and Dale.

When they got to the bowling alley, it seemed Hank was taking charge. “Okay, boys against girls.”  
“But Hank,” Peggy said. “There are more boys than girls.”  
“Okay, well…kids, go to the girls’ side.”  
“Oh no you don’t, Hank,” Dale said. “My Joseph here is a man.”  
“Whatever. Bill, go to the ladies’ side.”  
“Oh goodie!” he went over happily. He walked up close to Peggy. “Hi, Peggy…”  
“Uh…Hi, Bill,” she gave him a strange look.  
“But Dad!” Bobby protested. “I’m a man, too!”  
“It’s just a game, Bobby. Let’s go guys. Let’s bowl!”

Hank was glad that they had sent Bill over to the ladies’ side, because he stunk. He was bowling with two hands and getting gutter balls nearly every time.  
“We’ve got this, guys,” Hank said to his team. Dale and Boomhauer snickered.

One time, Bill actually knocked a few pins down and he got really excited. “Ooh! Peggy, did you see that?! I knocked down three pins!” he smiled really widely.  
“Uh-huh. That’s great, Bill,” Peggy said, really wishing Hank hadn’t have sent him over. It hardly seemed fair.  
Meanwhile, on the boys’ side, Boomhauer had just got a strike. His team cheered and he said, “Talk about a strike, man. It was nothing, really. Just a dang ol’ strike, man…”  
As Peggy went to take her time, she went “Hmph,” to herself after seeing them get a strike. She gave it all she had, really wanting to beat those guys and show them that girls could bowl too. And sure enough, she got a strike as well. “Boo yah!” she yelled.  
“Um…That’s great, honey,” Hank said, trying to hide his shock and she stuck her tongue out at him. “Okay, it’s on!” Hank said, going to take his turn.  
Nancy excused herself to the restroom. “If I’m not back in time, Peggy, you take my turn.” She knew that Peggy was a much better bowler than she and knew also that she wouldn’t mind whatsoever taking her turn. Before she could make it into the women’s bathroom, however, a man stopped her.  
“Hey toots,” he said, smiling.  
“I beg your pardon?”  
“How about you and me…?”  
Nancy knew where this was going. “I think not, shug.”  
“Shug? Oh ho!” he teased.  
“Tough luck, pal. I call everybody that. Now if you’ll excuse me…” she tried to get past him.  
“Look, toots, I’ve got a gun alright?” he took out a gun right in the middle of the bowling alley, but quickly put it up before anyone saw. “If you don’t do what I say, I will have to use it.”  
Nancy’s eyes widened, but said, “Not today, shug!” and kicked him in the nuts. She then proceeded to scamper on to the ladies’ room.  
“I’ll find you! Don’t think I won’t!” yelled the man at her.  
Once Nancy had gotten into the restroom, she was extremely out of breath from running and fear. She caught up on her breath and then glanced at herself in the mirror for a moment or two. “I guess I’ve still got it,” she chuckled. “But that scared the living shit out of me. What if he really does come find me?” she started panicking.  
When she went back to her friends, she tried to remain calm, but it wasn’t really working out.  
Her friends noticed she looked as white as a ghost; she was tapping her foot extremely fast, and drumming her fingers on the table at rapid speed.  
“What wrong, Nancy?” Minh asked.  
“Nothing,” she said quickly.  
“Nancy,” Peggy said. “You can’t lie to us. Something is wrong. You look like you’re scared to death…”  
Before Nancy could respond, however, Bobby shouted, “STRIKE! Score! Mom, look! We’re beating Dad’s team!”  
“Yes! Go Bobby!” Peggy became instantly absorbed back into the game and the thought of beating Hank’s team and completely forgot about Nancy. Nancy was relieved by this, though.  
“Damn it, guys,” Hank said to his team. “There’s only one more frame left. If we don’t get a strike, we’re going to…” he gulped, “lose to the girls’ team.”  
“No!” Dale exclaimed. “We can’t let that happen!”  
“We can’t let women win!” Kahn shouted.  
“Talking about those women, man. I love women as much as the next guy…but those dang ol’ sissies can’t beat us at dang ol’ bowling, man. It’s just right, not constitutional, man,” Boomhauer rambled.  
“Who’s turn is it?” Hank looked around to see Joseph wave shyly. “Oh God…Look, please son, let one of us bowl for you. We’ll have a much better chance at winning.”  
“Are you trying to say my son can’t bowl?” Dale accused.  
“No…I’m just saying that we’re better.”  
“You can bowl for me Mister Hill, it’s fine…” Joseph said.  
“Oh no!” Peggy shouted. “That’s cheating, Hank!”  
“You bowled for Nancy!”  
“That was different. She was in the restroom. Therefore, it makes it legal. Joseph, go bowl.”  
Joseph took his ball and gave it all the might he could considering all the pressure he was under.  
“If you don’t make a strike, Joseph, you won’t be my son anymore!” Dale shouted. “…No pressure, though.”  
After exchanging glances with his friends, he said, “That’s kind of harsh, Dale… Look here, boy! If you don’t make a strike, I’ll kick your ass!”  
“There will be no ass kicking for my son,” Dale told Hank.  
Joseph let go of the ball and it slid down the lane, curving a bit to the right…only to knock down 9 pins.  
It got really silent for a moment. Joseph turned around and said, “I’m really sorry…”  
The guys sighed. Then Hank said, “It’s alright, Joseph. You tried…”  
“I’m very disappointed in you, son,” Dale said. “Or should I say ex son…”  
“Dale!” Nancy exclaimed, reprimanding.  
“Sorry, honey, but he has let me down.”  
Hank then said, “Congratulations girls…and Bill and Bobby. You have won this bowling match.”  
It was really silent for a minute, but Peggy broke it with a “Boo yah! In y’alls stupid little sissy boys faces!”  
“Whoa now. No sense in dang ol’ name calling now…That’s just not right…Talkin’ about bad sportsmanship, man…” Boomhauer said.  
But Peggy kept on. “Ha ha! In your face, Hank! We girls beat you guys!”  
“By one pin, Peggy.”  
“So? We still beat you!” she teased. The other members of her team were silent, except for Bobby doing his little victory dance. “You people are losers. Where’s your spirit?”

As the Gribble’s were pulling in their drive, Joseph said, “I’m really sorry, Dad…”  
“No need for apologies, Joseph. Just go on to bed.”  
“It’s 8:00!”  
“Well go to your room, then!”  
Joseph shrugged and went on into the house.  
“You don’t have to be so hard on him, shug. It was just a game.”  
“You’re just saying that because you won. If you lost, you would be doing the same thing.”  
“I kind of doubt that…”

As they were approaching their steps, Nancy heard a vaguely familiar voice. “I told you I’d find you…”  
Dale heard the very familiar sound of a gun cock and he immediately yelled, “Nancy, get out of the way!” As the trigger was being pulled, Dale was diving in front of Nancy, taking the bullet. The man saw Dale lying on the ground and muttered, “shit,” and ran away quickly.  
“Shug?” Nancy panicked, kneeling down beside him. Dale moaned for a moment and then opened his eyes.  
“I’m fine, Nancy.” He unbuttoned his shirt to reveal a bullet proof vest. “You can never be too careful,” he smiled.  
“Oh my god!” she exclaimed, looking horrified. “Do you know what you’ve done?” she stood back up and he stood up as well.  
“What?” he asked.  
“You’ve just saved my life, shug!” she felt tears coming to her eyes. Feeling the sudden urge, she threw her arms around Dale and kissed him like she’d never kissed him before. This moment had just made her realize something: Dale did love her, very much in fact, to the point of sacrifice. She didn’t want to ever stop kissing him and Dale was so shocked by her actions, but he was liking it. He had always loved Nancy, but feelings this strong had never happened like this before. It’s strange that near death situations can really remind you exactly how much you love a person.  
All of a sudden, Dale wanted to do more than just kiss Nancy. A really strong feeling was coming over him. But Nancy was way ahead of him. She was unbuttoning Dale’s shirt fiercely so Dale proceeded to unbutton hers. Next thing they knew, they were both on the ground together. Right in their front yard.  
Their neighbors started noticing this and were disgusted by it. Boomhauer was the first and he was thinking, “Wow…Even I wouldn’t go that far… talk about getting a room, man…”  
The Souphanousanphones saw as well and Minh covered Connie’s pure eyes.  
Bill thought to himself, “Now that is just uncivilized…”  
The Hanks were the last to see and the only ones to do something about it.  
“BWAH!” Hank shouted, covering Bobby’s eyes.  
“Nancy!” Peggy exclaimed. “Good God! Put your shirt back on and get in your house!”  
“Dale! Get some God dang clothes on, would you?”  
Nancy and Dale, obviously completely embarrassed, grabbed their clothes and ran inside the house and went to their bedroom. 

 

***

“Wow…” Dale said, later.  
“Wow is right, shug,” she smiled at Dale.  
“Did we just do what I think we just did?”  
“Yes…” she said slowly. “I think we did…” she trailed off. She couldn’t believe it either. After all those years…Then she gasped.  
“What’s wrong?”  
“Nothing…” But something was wrong. The only person she had made love to all those years was John Redcorn…What would he think if he found out she had made love to Dale? But she wasn’t going to worry about that right now, because she was enjoying the moment. Dale smiled at her and she smiled back. She had never felt like this with Dale before. Or if she had, it’d been a very long time. She liked the feeling a lot…She felt like this was how things were supposed to be…  
“I love you, Nancy,” Dale said, startling her.  
Tears welled up in her eyes. “I love you too, Dale.” He put his arm around her, surprising her. She snuggled closer and they ended up falling asleep like that.

***

The next morning, after they had both gotten dressed, Dale went over to Nancy casually and goosed her. She nearly jumped out of her skin, but chuckled afterward. “Oh, Dale…” she gave him a kiss on the cheek.  
“You look really nice this morning, Nancy.” She was in her weather girl uniform.  
“Why thank you, Dale…” she blushed. Last night’s events had certainly changed things.  
“Have fun at work. Telling that weather and whatnot…”  
“I will,” she smiled.  
As she was walking out the door, he stopped her and gave her the biggest kiss on their doorstep. She actually hoped the neighbors saw. She smiled to herself and then said, “I’ll see you later, shug!”  
“Okay, Nancy. I love you.”  
Her lip quivered and then she said, “I love you too.”

As Nancy drove to work, she started to thinking. Why didn’t she realize the man Dale was years ago? Then maybe she wouldn’t have ever started cheating on him…She was starting to feel horrible. Dale was an amazing guy, she was just now noticing that. 14 years later is when the guilt starts to set in…


	2. Decisions

After a little thought on Nancy’s drive home from work, she realized that what had happened between her and Dale the previous day was something very special. Something worth celebrating. And she knew just how to do it…  
When she got to the house, Dale was outside with his friends so she went in to make a phone call.  
“Hello?”  
“Peggy…”  
“Oh hi, Nancy. Did you um…have fun last night?”  
“That’s exactly what I’m calling about…”  
“I don’t want to hear the details, Nancy…” Peggy said a little disgusted.  
“No, shug!” she laughed. “I meant do you want to know why that even happened like that?”  
“What, you having a good old time right in your yard for the neighborhood to see?”  
“Yes. Did you not hear that gunshot last night?”  
“Yes, but by the time I looked out the window, there was nothing there but you two on the ground.”   
“Well, it all happened so fast, Peg. That man was trying to kill me and Dale jumped in front of me! He saved my life, Peggy!”  
“Oh my God! Dale?”  
“Yes…It was that moment that I realized that Dale really does love me…to the point of sacrifice, Peg.”  
“Um…that’s great, Nancy.”  
“Yes…And this is something really special to me and I think we need to celebrate it.”  
“Do you want to have a barbecue or something?”  
“No, Peg,” she laughed again. “I want to renew mine and Dale’s wedding vows.”  
“Wow, Nancy. That’s a big thing.”  
“Yes, I know, but I want to do it.”  
“Well, okay. We’ll all be here to help you…Oh, this could be fun actually. Just like your wedding day…You’ll get to get back into your old dress and everything.”  
“If it fits, shug. It’s been 16 years.”  
“Nancy, you’re still as skinny as I don’t know what. It’ll fit.”  
“Okay…”

That night in bed, Nancy told of what she wanted to do.   
“Renew our wedding vows?” Dale asked. “Hm…”  
“Oh, come on, Dale. You have to admit that what happened last night was special. It needs to be celebrated…And it would help me if we did this. It’s like starting over…”  
“Starting over what?”  
“It’s just something that’s bugging me and I really want to do this. I need to do this.”  
“Okay, Nancy…but I think I threw out my tux…”  
“No you didn’t. Because I kept it.”  
“Oh… Well, when should we do this little ceremony?”  
“Well, actually…I was thinking and our wedding anniversary is Thursday.”  
“It is?!”  
“I know…Normally I wouldn’t remember either, shug. But it would be the perfect day to do it.”  
“Yeah…That sounds right.”

The next evening after dinner, the four guys were outside Hank’s house, drinking beers.  
“Yep,” Hank said.  
“Yep,” Bill contributed.  
“Yep…” Dale said.  
“Mm-hmm,” Boomhauer added.  
“Hey guys,” Dale said. “Nancy and I are renewing our wedding vows on Thursday.”  
“Why?” Hank asked.  
“Because she wants to.”  
“Oh…Well you must’ve done something right,” Hank chuckled.  
“Either that or something terribly wrong,” Bill said.  
“It was something right,” Dale assured him.  
“What’d you do, man? Make love to her?” Boomhauer asked.  
“Well…um…yes,” Dale responded.   
“Talkin’ about the right thing to do, man. That’s great. The right way to go…Good job, I’m dang ol’ proud of you, Dale.”  
“Um…thanks?”

Once Nancy had gotten into bed that night, Dale was taking a shower and she heard a rap at the window. She dragged herself out of bed and saw John Redcorn. She opened the window. “John Redcorn!” she exclaimed in a whisper. “What are you doing here? It’s late!”  
“I just got back to Arlen and I missed you Nancy. I had to come see you.”  
Nancy’s eyes widened. “Well, Dale’s right in there taking a shower,” she pointed to their bathroom that was connected to the bedroom.   
“Oh…” he looked disappointed. “Well, I can come tomorrow to heal your headaches, when he’s at work. Just call me, Nancy.”  
She bit her lip. “I don’t think so, John Redcorn,” she said with difficulty, but she knew it was the right thing to do.  
“Oh, well, what about the next day?”  
“Never again, John Redcorn.”  
“What?”  
“You heard me,” she literally started crying. At the moment, Dale came back in the bedroom, in his pajamas. John Redcorn left quickly and Nancy shut the window.   
“Why’d you have the window open Nancy?” Dale asked.  
“Just getting some fresh air…” she sniffed.  
“Nancy, are you crying?”  
“I’m fine, shug…”  
“What’s wrong?” He walked over to her and patted her back.   
“It’s nothing, really, shug…” then she realized he wasn’t going to take that for an answer, so she made something up. “It’s just that, I’m so happy that we’ve become a little closer…”  
“Nancy…so am I,” he smiled and she tried to smile back at him. She knew that she had done the right thing. Since they were renewing their wedding vows, they would be starting over, so therefore she needed to start over completely. And that meant getting rid of John Redcorn. She knew that she had done the right thing, but yet it was still hard on her.  
Next thing she knew, Dale was reaching out for a hug. She wrapped her arms around him as well and hugged him. It felt nice actually and she wished she could just stay like that forever. “I love you, honey.”  
“I love you two, Dale. You’ve been saying that a lot lately,” she noted aloud.  
“I feel like I haven’t said it enough all these years.”  
“It’s okay, shug. Neither have I.”  
“You know, maybe renewing our wedding vows will be good for us.”  
“Exactly what I was thinking, shug.”

***

Thursday…  
Dale and the guys were at Boomhauer’s house, getting ready for the event. Dale was getting into his tux, when he realized that he couldn’t button the coat.  
“This can’t be good…”  
“Okay, um, don’t panic,” Hank said.  
“Don’t panic? Nancy wants this day to be perfect and I’m going to ruin it!”  
“Um…” Hank thought quickly. “Maybe my old tux will fit you. From mine and Peggy’s wedding. I was smaller then, so maybe it will fit you.”  
“It’s worth a try,” Dale shrugged. Hank rushed home and found his tux in the back of his closet.  
When he got back, Dale tried it on. “It’s a little big, Hank. I look silly.” It was a bit baggy on him.  
“Dang it.”  
“I’ll just have to wear mine and just not button the coat, I guess…”

 

Meanwhile, the women were in Nancy’s bedroom, getting ready. Minh and Peggy were helping Nancy into her wedding dress. Peggy was zipping up the back for her, but could only get it halfway. She was trying over and over to get it to zip, but the zipper wouldn’t budge.  
“What’s going on back there, shug?” Nancy asked.  
“Have you gained weight, Nancy Gribble?” Minh asked.  
“I don’t think so…why?”  
“It’s not zipping,” Peggy said.  
“Oh dear…”  
“Suck it in, Nancy! Suck it all in!” Peggy shouted.   
Nancy sucked in all she could, but there honestly wasn’t much to suck.  
“You must’ve gotten bigger, Nancy,” Minh said. “You can tell us…”  
“I seriously don’t think I have. I’ve been the same size pants for years.”  
“What about your bra size?” Peggy said after a moment.  
“What?”  
“Has your bra size changed?”  
“Um…Well, now that I think about it, after Joseph was born…”  
“That’s what it is…It’s your boobs.”  
“Figures,” Nancy muttered.  
“Well,” Minh said. “It’s not zipping from lower part of body, so you have to have put on some weight!”  
“Okay, Minh! Maybe I have put on a few pounds. I don’t know! God, it’s been 16 years! I told you this dress wasn’t going to fit, Peg…”  
“Nonsense, Nancy! We will make it fit! We’re not letting this stand in the way of your special day!”  
“How are you going to do that, shug?”  
“We’re going to need another person,” Peggy said skeptically. “Minh, go get your daughter.”  
“Um…okay.” She hurried to go get Connie. She found her talking to Bobby outside on the Hills’ lawn. “Connie! Nancy Gribble, Peggy Hill, and I need your help!”  
“Awe, but Mom, I’m talking to Bobby!”   
“He can wait. This more important. This is matter of wedding or no wedding.”  
“Oh…okay,” she was confused, but obeyed her mother and followed her.

As soon as Connie and Minh arrived in the bedroom, Peggy started giving orders. “Okay, Minh, you get in front of Nancy and make sure she’s sucking in as much as she can, I’ll pull together the sides of the dress as far as they’ll go back here, and Connie, you will be the zipper.  
“Um…”  
“Just do it!” Peggy shouted desperately.   
“Okay, Mrs. Hill.” She grabbed the zipper and started trying to zip up the dress as Peggy and Minh did their job. Nancy was trying so hard to suck in and Minh was trying to help by pushing on her, but it wasn’t really helping. So Peggy was pulling, Minh was pushing, Nancy was sucking, and Connie was zipping. They managed to get it a little more zipped up, but not all the way.   
“Wait!” Minh exclaimed. “I have girdle at home!”  
Peggy and Nancy looked flustered. “Now you tell us?” Peggy asked, exasperated.   
“Sorry. I just now remember. I’ll go get it now.”  
They all sighed while Minh went home to get the girdle.  
“She better hurry,” Nancy said. “The ceremony starts in 15 minutes.”

So they had to start all over again with putting on the dress, but they got done in time. It resulted in the dress being zipped, but Nancy not being able to breathe very well. She looked at herself in the mirror and sighed a contented sigh. “We got it to fit,” she smiled. “I look so…”  
“Beautiful,” Peggy finished for her. “You look beautiful, Nancy.”  
“Oh, thanks, shug,” she blushed.   
“We better go. I hear the music playing. They’re waiting for you, Nancy!” The wedding was taking place in the Hills’ backyard. It was to be very small, just the neighborhood was invited, and some family. 

***

As Dale was standing waiting for Nancy, he felt so uncomfortable. He just knew that Nancy wouldn’t be pleased that his coat didn’t fit right. He felt like everything was going to go wrong. He was being so paranoid and was wondering what was taking Nancy so long. But soon she appeared and he watched her walk slowly up the aisle. She looked so beautiful in her long white dress…that she could still fit in. This didn’t surprise Dale because she was so dang skinny, but he was jealous that she could fit in her dress when he couldn’t button his coat. But she really was gorgeous and he was nearly drooling just looking at her.  
When she arrived right beside him, he smiled a sheepish smile at her and she looked a bit amused. They exchanged their renewal vows, exchanged their rings, and exchanged a passionate kiss that made everyone smile at.  
“Ho yeah!” Peggy said as quietly as she could from the audience. Hank gave her a strange look.  
“Wedding’s always make me cry,” Bill said, his eyes welling up with tears. “Oh, Lenore!” he cried out.  
“Talkin’ bout dang ol’ love man, it’s just like that dang ol’ dinosaur, I love you, you love me, man, we’re all a dang ol’ happy family, yo…The more I think about it all, I really am alone…Oh what the hell am I talkin’ bout, I got lots of girls, just haven’t found the right one yet, yo…” Boomhauer muttered to himself. 

When Dale and Nancy had finished running down the aisle together, getting hit with rice, they noticed John Redcorn standing there, arms crossed.  
“Hey there, John Redcorn. Glad you could make the wedding,” Dale said.  
Nancy looked away, nervously.  
“You don’t know how deeply this hurts me,” John Redcorn said.  
“What do you mean, John Redcorn?” Dale asked, suspiciously.   
“Oh, nothing you would understand, you oblivious paranoiac.”  
“You Native Americans are strange…We’ll see you after our second honeymoon, John Redcorn.”  
“Second honeymoon?” he asked. “You’re going away, Nancy?”  
“Yes, shug. We’ll be back…”  
“Or will we?” Dale said and then laughed evilly.  
“Well Nancy, I suppose I’ll see you when you get back then.”  
“I guess so, shug…”  
He smiled at her and she just looked at him and then went on her way to the car with Dale.

As they were driving, Dale said, “Um…Nancy, I’m sorry that my coat wouldn’t button…I know you wanted everything to be perfect…”  
“Oh shug, it’s been 16 years. Do you think I expected you to be the same size?”  
“You are…”   
“Do you want to know a secret, shug? I was wearing a girdle.”  
“Really?” Dale was surprised.  
“I know, I was shocked too…” She looked down a little sadly.  
“Oh, Nancy, 16 years ago you were way too skinny anyway…” Nancy smiled slightly. “I’ll always love you no matter what…”  
“Awe…Same here, shug.”  
Then, forgetting themselves for the moment, they leaned in and kissed as they were riding down the highway. All of a sudden, they hear a big honk of a horn and Nancy pulled away from Dale quickly screaming, “Shug! Watch out!”


	3. Guilt Conquers

They both screamed as they saw a truck coming right at them. Dale panicked and swerved, trying to escape. They barely got away as they slid over off the side of the road. For a moment, they didn’t say anything. They just sat there catching up on their breath. That had scared the heck out of them. Neither one of them was to blame, because they had both been at fault. But then again, the truck that had nearly hit them was driving on the wrong side of the road.  
“That wasn’t my fault,” Dale said quickly.  
“Oh, I know, shug. That idiot was on the wrong side of the road.”  
“I wonder who it was?”  
“Probably some drunk driver, shug.”  
“Maybe it was Bill,” Dale said skeptically.  
“Oh, Bill wouldn’t drink and drive.”  
“You never know…”  
“Let’s just forget about it and go on, shug.”  
So Dale put it back in drive and continued down the road. But he noticed in the rearview mirror that the same truck was right behind them on their tail. “Uh…that can’t be a coincidence.”  
Nancy looked in her mirror and saw that she recognized that vehicle. “Step on it, shug!” she exclaimed.  
Dale did what his wife said and stepped on the gas. But no matter how fast he drove, the truck was still on their tail. They made it to the hotel they were staying at and the truck pulled in the same parking lot. Dale said, “That’s it!”  
“Don’t do anything rash, shug!”  
Dale continued getting out of the car without saying a word to Nancy. “Alright, you hind tail-er! What do you think you’re doing…tailing our hind?” but once he saw the long haired, vested Indian, he stopped. “Oh, hello John Redcorn. What brings you here?”  
“I, um…need to speak to Nancy.”  
“Oh, is it about her headaches?” Dale opened his door back and poked his head inside. “You didn’t tell me you’ve been having headaches lately,” he said quietly. “John Redcorn wants to speak to you.”  
“Oh…” she looked flustered. “Alright, shug. Could you excuse us for a moment, then?”  
“Oh…sure. I’ll just go take our stuff to our room.”  
“Thanks, shug,” she smiled.  
After Dale had left, Nancy got out of the car, looked at John Redcorn and said, “You might be able to fool Dale, but you can’t fool me. What the hell were you thinking?!”  
“I…I…Nancy, this has all been too much for me, these past few days. First you just shove me out of your life after all those years and then you go and re-marry Dale.”  
“Seeing a pattern?”  
“Why all of a sudden, Nancy? I thought you loved me.”  
“That’s not the point, John Redcorn. The point is that all these years, I’ve been betraying Dale. It used to not bother me, because Dale and I never really interacted much. I don’t even know if I really loved him. But recently, I’ve discovered that I do love him and you can’t betray someone you love dearly, shug.”  
“Well think of it in my perspective. I love you, Nancy. We had been ‘together’ for 14 years and then all of a sudden you blow us off. It was a very heartbreaking experience for me…”  
“So you come and try to kill us both?”  
“I wasn’t trying to kill you, Nancy. I would never try to kill you. Dale is a different story,” he kind of smiled, but when he saw that Nancy was doing far from smiling, he cleared his throat and went on. “I was only trying to get your attention so you would pull over. But you started back on the road too fast for me to get out and come talk to you…”  
“John Redcorn, I think that you just need to move on. I’m sorry.”  
“What can I do to make you not love Dale anymore?”  
Nancy gasped and then said, “NOTHING! Now just go back to Arlen and leave us alone, would you? You should be happy for me! I’ve come clean. I’m doing what is right now. I love my husband, like I should.”  
“Why should that make me happy? I’ve lost the one I love…”  
“Oh, shug…”  
“Think of Joseph.”  
“What does he have to do with anything?”  
“He’s our son…”  
“So?”  
“I want to see him sometimes and this has been the only way I can see him…”  
“Well someday he might’ve seen us in bed together or something and then what we have done?”  
“Tell him the truth?”  
“No. John Redcorn. It’s over,” she said firmly. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go enjoy my second honeymoon with my husband whom I’m deeply in love with. I’ll see you back in Arlen, shug.” She turned around.  
“…Bye Nancy,” John Redcorn said.  
“Come on, Nancy!” Dale walked out of the hotel, shouting. “I’m waiting for you and your amazing can!”  
Nancy blushed and said, “Coming shug!” She turned and glanced at John Redcorn once more before moving on.  
After hearing what Dale said about Nancy’s “can,” it was hard for John Redcorn not to watch her behind as she walked to the hotel. “She really does have a nice ass…” he said to himself thoughtfully. 

Nancy followed Dale into their hotel room and as soon as they shut the door behind them, Dale said, “Alright! So let’s this party started, huh?” he wiggled his eyebrows and started taking off his clothes.  
“Uh, Dale…” Nancy started.  
Dale froze. “What’s wrong, Nancy?”  
“Nothing…” She trailed off. “Can’t we just wait a little bit? We don’t have to um…party right away, you know…”  
“Well I was planning on partying all night long! Heh heh…”  
Nancy shifted her weight from foot to foot, looking at the ground.  
“What’s wrong, Nancy?” he walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder.  
“Nothing, shug…”  
“Well then why are you just standing there? You know you want some of this…” Dale put his hands at Nancy’s waist and gently started rubbing up and down. This sent chills up Nancy’s spine. She closed her eyes and smiled. But then she frowned. She felt like something was wrong. After all those years, she was starting to feel guilty for never telling Dale what was going on all that time. But then a thought came to her head, The truth is like sunlight, people used to think it was good for you…But then again, some people said that the truth will set you free. But how could it set her free after she’d been lying for fourteen years? It would crush him…She better just keep living like nothing happened. He’d never find out…That’s just how she lived…A lie. But she was going to change that. She was going to pretend it never happened herself and just forget about it. She was going to love Dale like she never had before. She tilted her head upwards, put her arms around Dale and kissed him.  
“Mmm,” Dale mumbled happily, kissing her back. “There’s my Nancy,” he said. She smiled and they headed over towards the bed.  
But the whole time they were getting busy, Nancy was feeling horrible. She felt more guilty then than ever. She realized after a while that the only way she was ever going to feel better, would be to get it off her chest. But why was it just now bothering her after 14 years? Why tell him now? It seemed the right thing to do, but whatever happened to the truth being like sunlight? She felt so confused, but Dale noticed she wasn’t putting much effort forth and said, “What’s wrong Nancy?”  
Then, without thinking, she blurted out, “I was cheating on you for 14 years!”  
“Wha?” Dale was obviously confused. “What are you saying?”  
“Just what I said, damn it!”  
Dale was shocked. “How did I not know about this?”  
“I don’t know,” she shook her head as she bawled.  
“Explain please.”  
Nancy sniffed, nodded and continued. “I was having an affair with John Redcorn. But I broke up with him once I found out how much I really loved you, shug…”  
“When did you find out you loved me?”  
“The night after we went bowling…”  
“You didn’t know you loved me until then?”  
“Well…I’ve always loved you, shug…”  
“You’re contradicting your statements Nancy. Get your stories straight. Why’d you marry me if you didn’t love me?”  
“I did love you, shug! And I still do! I always have…I can’t explain why I did what I did. I feel horrible now, Dale…”  
“You should,” was all Dale said, before getting up and storming out of the hotel room.  
Nancy started bawling her eyes out. She didn’t know this day would ever come, but it did. She was getting what she deserved, but she felt horrible. Right when she and Dale had gotten to patching things up, they just split down the seams worse than before.

Little did Nancy know, Dale was taking the car back to Arlen, leaving her stranded in the hotel room miles away from home.  
When Dale got home, his buddies were standing in the alley drinking beer. “Hey Dale!” Hank waved. “Back so soon?”  
“Yeah…”  
“Where’s Nancy? Did you leave her there?” he chuckled, just joking.  
“Yes.”  
Hank and the guys laughed.  
“I’m serious,” Dale said, storming off towards his house.  
“BWAH!” Hank said. “Dale!” he called after his friend, but Dale kept on walking.  
“One of us probably needs to go talk to him,” Bill said.  
“I tell you what, talkin’ about no way, man. No dang ol’ way…” Boomhauer said.  
“Well I’m not going to talk to him,” Bill said. “I’ll only start to get sad about…Lenore!” he ran away crying.  
“I’ll go,” Hank sighed.

When Nancy had calmed down for the most part, she felt like she needed to talk to someone, so she called Peggy on her cell phone.  
“Hello?”  
“Peggy, it’s Nancy, shug.”  
“Hi Nancy. How’s the second honeymoon going?”  
“Terrible.”  
Peggy looked out the window, and seeing Dale’s car, gasped.  
“What are you gasping about, Peggy?”  
“You are at your house, right?”  
“No, I’m in the hotel room. Why?”  
“Because your car is parked in your driveway!”  
“What?! Oh my God! Dale!”  
“Did he leave you there?”  
“Yes…Because he now knows about the affair.”  
“Why?”  
“Because I told him…I couldn’t take it anymore, Peggy. Living a lie. He had every right to know.”  
“I told you that 2 years ago.”  
“I know, shug. And I would say I should’ve listened to you, but no matter when I would’ve told him, it all would’ve ended badly.”  
“Well, what hotel are you at, sweetie? I’ll come get you right now.”  
“Oh, you don’t have to do that shug. I’ll take a cab…”  
“Nonsense! I’m your best friend and I’m here for you always! Where are you?”  
“Dallas City Hotel.”  
“Y’all went to Dallas?”  
“Well, where’d you think we went? We’re not rich, shug!”  
“You’re the weather girl!”  
“It pays the bills, honey. It doesn’t get us a luxurious vacation.”  
“Even with Dale’s money?”  
“He pays the cable bill.”  
“Oh…”

Meanwhile, Hank was over at Dale’s talking to him.  
“Why in the hell did you leave Nancy at the hotel?”  
“Because…”  
“Because why, Dale? You don’t just leave your wife stranded somewhere and not tell her about it.”  
“She deserved it.”  
“No one deserves to be stranded.” When Dale still looked unconvinced, he said, “Look Dale, I know what she did is wrong, but you’re going to have to forgive her…”  
“And what if I don’t?” he tested him, arms crossed.  
“You could always divorce her,” Hank suggested.  
Dale opened his mouth, but shut it again and looked down sadly. “I couldn’t do that…”  
“Then you have to forgive her, Dale.”  
“It’s going to be hard, Hank…”  
“Do you love her, Dale?”  
“Of course I do…”  
“Then go retrieve her and forgive her.”  
“But…”  
“Dale, do you want this to be the end of your relationship?”  
“N-n-no…”  
“Then go and fix things before they get any worse!”  
“Okay! Okay!!!” he whined, running out of the house. Dale then got in his car and drove all the way back to Dallas, only to find that Nancy had checked out of the hotel an hour ago.  
“Dang it,” he muttered, as he got back in the car and headed back home.

When he arrived back at their house, he found Nancy sitting cross legged, cross armed, sitting on the couch, staring at the wall.  
“Nancy, there you are!”  
“Could say the same to you!” she said hotly.  
“Nancy, I’m sorry I just left you there, but you should’ve understood why.”  
“I get enough courage to tell my husband the truth about something that was very hard to tell him and that’s the thanks I get?!”  
“Nancy, you were cheating on me for 14 years. If I wasn’t such a nice guy, then I probably would’ve done a whole lot more than left you at a hotel!”  
“Oh, really then? What would have done?” she narrowed her eyes at him.  
“I don’t know…went and made out with some other hot woman…or shot you. I don’t know…” he shrugged. Nancy gasped. “But I love you too much to do something like that…” Nancy’s expression softened.  
There was a silence and then Nancy said, “Did you really go all the way to Dallas just to get me?”  
“Of course I did. I felt bad, Nancy. Really bad…I had to come and apologize…and forgive you before our relationship got in a mess…” he looked down.  
“Oh shug…” she said, pitying him and walking over to him. “This relationship isn’t going to be a mess…All I needed to know is that you were going to forgive me…That’s all I needed to hear.” She smiled.  
“Well, it’s hard for me, but I forgive you Nancy. Can you forgive me for leaving you in Dallas?”  
“Most definitely…” she put his arms around him and kissed him.

Though it was hard for Dale, he had forgiven Nancy and she never went to John Redcorn for a migraine treatment ever again. She just couldn’t bear it anymore; the guilt was too much for her. And also she loved Dale too much as well. She felt no need to see anyone else.  
And that’s what happens when guilt conquers.


End file.
